The present invention relates to apparatus or mechanism for axially actuating or shifting an anti-friction bearing mounted directly or with a sleeve as an intermediate connection in the bore of housing extension or the like by means of screw elements engaging with the extended housing section.
In some bearing assemblies, it is necessary and desirable to adjust precisely in an axial direction, the machine part which is engaged through an anti-friction bearing. An example of this type of arrangement is a pinion gear arrangement particularly bevel gears, which must be set very precisely so that the teeth of the gears mesh accurately. As a rule this adjustment is accomplished by adding spacers in the form of thin plates or washers and generally the assembly of these spacers is a somewhat time consuming process.
It is also known in the prior art to provide a mechanism or apparatus wherein the bearings for the pinion are mounted in a sleeve or the like which is provided with a flange and whereby the axial shifting of the bearing and thus the axial adjustment of the pinion is achieved by means of the combined effect of attachment and forcing screw members. An example of this type of mechanism is shown in German Patent as DT-AS No. 1 000 654. Axial adjustment may also be achieved by the use of threaded adjustment rings and an arrangement of this type is shown in German Patent DT-PS No. 391 270. These prior known designs have certain disadvantages and drawbacks. For example, the adjusting means comprising a multiplicity of screws along the periphery are usually located in a part which is not very accessible. Accordingly, since they have to be reset from time to time it is a tedious and time-consuming process to disassemble parts of the mechanism to gain access to the adjusting screws. Furthermore, in these assemblies, inaccuracies which do not assure an exact adjustment can result by reason of distortions and the compounding effect of the tolerances of the individual parts.
In other known mechanisms, the outer surface of the sleeve in which the bearings sit or both ends of the outer ring of the bearing itself are provided with threaded segments for receiving grooved nuts located on both sides of a housing flange or the like. Arrangements of this type are shown in German Patent DT-PS No. 924 789 and DT-Gbm No. 1 956 130. These designs also have certain shortcomings since it has been found that it is possible only with extreme difficulty and with the use of complicated tools to gain access to the adjusting nuts on both sides of flange. Accordingly, this process is usually carried out with an open housing. Beyond this, there is no problem-free means for securing the outer ring of the bearing against twisting in these prior known designs.
With the foregoing in mind, an object of the present invention is to provide a mechanism wherein the axial shifting takes place exteriorly of the mechanism and wherein the adjustment does not involve the use of complicated tools. The present invention is also characterized by novel features of construction and arrangement whereby the twisting of the outer ring of the bearing or the mounting sleeve is avoided.